Who leaves exam room earlier???

-Noone should ever leave an exam early. If you finish, look through your outline to see if there is any issue that could remotely be raised (do a small analysis of those, you might get a point or two). If you finish that, throw some policy in (you might get a pt). In classes with outlines, often I'd have a tiny amount of policy for each legal rule just so I could throw it on the exam at the end.

-At my law school, I was always asked "why do you use every minute available, I know you finish early?" I always thought, "why wouldnt you use every possible minute and throw in anything that is remotely relevant, because an entire semester's work comes down to 3-4 hours."

-I received many exam high A's in law school, I would attribute them to those extra minutes where I gathered a few points that few others did.

-Finally, I dont understand how people can become distracted. Your entire focus should be on the exam...so really you shouldn't notice when people are leaving and what not.

I leave my exams the second I finish (if it is multiple choice, I check it over once before submitting). I like to avoid the lines to submit the exams and all of the nervous chatter about what issues people did and did not spot. I don't need to hear that. I left one exam 45 minutes early and got an A+ on it. Anyway, if people are respectful when they leave, there is no reason why they shouldnt. I am always quiet on my way out and always do well. Just focus on the approach you like the best and sit away from the door to avoid distraction if possible (and wear earplugs if you do not already). Good luck on your remaining exams.

I don't agree that there is an absolute correlation to using all available time and doing well. During 1L, I was the first person done with most of my exams, and I always left when I was done. I don't like to second guess myself, and when I go back over things I tend to change them from right to wrong. If you know the information going in, just answer the questions then leave when your done. There is no reason to sit and look over the exam multiple times just for the sake of doing so and using every possible minute.

i know what i know and don't know what i know. i also tend to go through multiple choice tests really quickly (doesn't necessarily mean i always do well; doesn't mean i always do poorly). i was done with the test less than halfway through the given time period. i went through it a second time fresh. i still had 15 mins left. i chilled around for 5 more mins, because i didn't want people to think of me how the posters above me think of their peers who finish fast. but then i couldn't take it and just left.

i dono man. it's not like if i stare at it 10 more minutes, some abstract rule that i KNOW i neglected to read will suddenly make sense to me.

I use every available minute because even if you think you covered everything you might remember a minor subissue that no one remembered and get points on that. Also you can flush out a rushed analysis somewhere in the essay where you had to move on before finishing what you wanted to finish. I would never leave an exam early unless it was all multiple choice. And even then I would double check my answers to make sure the scantron was done correctly and that I fully read any questions that confused me.

Yeah someone left my torts exam 1 hour early today and I just looked up in amazement. I honestly felt a little insulted that this guy figured he could write a better exam then the rest of us in 3/4 the time. In torts there are always issues you can flesh out more, or cases you can add etc. What is the point of leaving 60 minutes early. Is that 60 minutes worth a potential grade step?

Yeah someone left my torts exam 1 hour early today and I just looked up in amazement. I honestly felt a little insulted that this guy figured he could write a better exam then the rest of us in 3/4 the time. In torts there are always issues you can flesh out more, or cases you can add etc. What is the point of leaving 60 minutes early. Is that 60 minutes worth a potential grade step?

You don't think it's possible that a person can write an A exam without using the entire time alotted? It's a bit arrogant to think that the guy was wrong in thinking he could do better than you in 1/4 of the time. It's very possible that he did write a better exam than you. I left most of my 1L exams before the halfway point, and I did better than most.